Improvement in shutter-fasteners



T. HOUGHTON.

Improvement in Shutter-Fasteners.

N0,129,664 Patentedluly23,1872.

AM. woman/romaine mmx osao/mz's moans) PATENT G.

THOMAS HOUGHTON, on PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN SHUTTER-FASTENERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 129,664, dated July 23, 1872,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THoMns HOUGTHON, of the city and county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Holders and Fasteners for Shutters, Doors, &c.; and I do hereby declare the following to be a clear and exact description of the nature thereof, sufiieient to enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertains to fully understand, make, and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing making part of this specification, in which Figures 1, 2, and 3 are top views of the device, illustrating my invention as applied to a shutter, door, or gate, respectively, closed, bowed, and fully opened. Fig. 4 is a face or front view of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detached view.

Similar letters of reference indicate correspondin g parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to a device for holding and fastening shutters, doors, gates, or similar structures, in closed, bowed, and open positions. It consists of a traveler sliding on and engaging with a transverse bar fixed to the shutter and hinged to the operating-lever, which is adapted to be held on a pin or similar fastening on the sill. It also consists in an engaging-block on the operating-lever for fully opening the shutter and holding it in such open position.

Referring to the drawing, A represents a shutter, door, gate, or similar structure, but the invention will be more fully described as applied to a shutter. B represents the sill or bottom of the frame of the window or shutter. Near the lower end of the shutter I secure a traverse or bar, 0, which extends horizontally and longitudinally, and is attached to the shutter by brackets l), or otherwise, so as to set out therefrom and leave a space, D, between the shutter and bar. On this bar 0 I place a traveler, E, which is constructed to embrace said bar, except at the portion a, which is cut away, so that the neck of the bracket D, or the screws which hold the bar in place, will be cleared, and the free motion or riding of the traveler fiom end to end of the bar will not be interfered with. The traveler is hinged or jointed to one end of an operating-lever, F, which should be of length to be conveniently reached by persons within the room near the sill B, and its other end is adapted to engage with a pin or other fastening, G, on the sill. The jointed end of lever F is bifurcated, and on the inner face of the forkis secured a block, H, which'proj ects therefrom in the line of the bar, and is designed to engage with said bar when the shutter is to be opened to its full extent. The shutter may be retained in closed or bowed positions by means of notches K, into which drops the traveler E, or by means of a set-screw or springcatch passing through the traveler and bearin g against the bar. The traveler will be prevented from slipping from the ends of the bar by means of stops or pins 1) suitably arranged on said ends,

When the shutter is to be closed the lever F must be cleared of the pin G, and the traveler E moved to the outer end of the bar 0, during which operation the shutter will be drawn in. The traveler then drops into the proper notch in the bar, or is tightened on the bar by means of a set-screw or spring-catch, as has been stated; or the lever may be moved around and bear against a pin, L, arranged on the sill B near the place occupied by the traveler when the shutter is closed. In either case the free end of the lever must then be fixed on the pin Gr, and thus the shutter is closed and firmly locked.

If the shutter is to be opened and bowed, if the pin L has been employed for looking it, the lever F is raised free of the pin G and swung clear of the pin L, thereby permitting the shutter to be opened; but if the traveler is engaged with a notch in the bar 0, it must be lifted clear of said notch; or, if the set-screw or spring-catch is employed, the latter must be loosened or drawn out. The lever F need not be raised from the pin G, as the latter will now act as a fulcrum for the lever but by pressing the lever against the bar the shutter will be forced open, and when to its desired extent the traveler will drop into the corresponding notch; or the set-screw may be tightened, or the catch bear against the bar, and thus the shutter will be held bowed in position.

When the shutter is bowed and is to be opened to its full extent, it is evident that greater power is required to be exerted on the shutter, and in order to obtain leverage thereon the lever is cleared of the pin, the shutter pushed out, and the lever drawn along the bar to the full length of its longitudinal play, until the en gaging-block H, which has heretofore been inoperative on the front face of the bar G, clears the inner edge thereof; then the lever F is fully swung back, thus bringing the block to the rear of the bar, and by pushing the lever toward the outer end of the bar the block lies against the back or rear of the bar, wherebythe joint between the lever and bar becomes rigid, and the shutter may be readily swung fully open by the lever. Now slip the free end of the latter on the pin G, and the shutter is firmly held in its open position.

In order to draw in the shutter, the lever is to be cleared of the pin G and the shutter partly closed by the lever F; then draw the lever until the block H clears the edge of the inner end of the bar and swing the lever outwardly until the block is on the front of the bar, the traveler acting as the axis of the lever; then, if desired, the lever may be dropped on the pin G; and the subsequent operation of bowing the shutter may be performed by drawing on the lever and raising it from the notches as the shutter comes in, or by sliding the lever until it reaches the desired notch, and then bowing or shutting the shutter, as maybe desired or necessary.

' The operation is the same whether the looking medium consists of the notches, set-screw,

or spring-catch.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The engaging-bar 0, traveler E moving thereon, and lever F hinged to one end of the traveler, in connection with the locking-pin G, adapted to form the fulcrum for the other end of the lever, all constructed and operating together substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. The projecting block H of the lever F, in connection with bar 0, operating substantially in the manner and for the purpose described. The above signed by me this 6th day of J une, 1872.

THOMAS HOUGHTON.

Witnesses:

J OHN A. WElDERSI-IEIM, HARRY M. Wnrnnnsnnnr. 

